Finance sector offers best job prospects: poll

Graduates with backgrounds in finance and banking will stand a better chance of landing their ideal jobs this year, while those with science and engineering diplomas might face a predicament in which supply exceeds demand, a human resources consultancy said yesterday.

"The financial sector has replaced the high-tech industry and become the major employer this year," said Kevin Zang (臧聲遠), editor in chief of the Chinese-language monthly magazine Career (就業情報), citing the results of its latest report.

Large-scale financial services providers, such as Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) and Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), plan to go on a hiring spree with each looking to fill around 3,000 positions.

Chinatrust Financial said in January that it will boost its workforce by a third this year to cope with a continued expansion and the need to internationalize operations.

Taipei Fubon Bank (台北富邦銀行) and First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) also expect to inject new blood by hiring 1,500 workers each, the report said.

The recruitment will focus on hiring basic-level salespeople, including specialists in personal finance and telemarketing personnel, as well as high-level professionals, such as management associates, as well as those with expertise in developing new financial products, planning and marketing, risk management and data mining.

In stark contrast, the hiring needs of major high-tech companies have shrunk dramatically. In the past each firm used to recruit at least 3,000 engineers annually.

With the exception of two high-tech giants, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), which plan to bring on over 1,000 engineers this year, other semiconductor businesses have reported weak hiring intentions, with job vacancies plunging to around 300 each.

The five major TFT-LCD manufacturers, meanwhile, are also reducing their total hiring needs from 6,300 staff last year to 4,000 this year, Zang said.

The job market shake-up is also driven by the booming real estate and transportation sectors, he added.

Thanks to a surge in new housing units and the slow recovery of the property market, graduates from civil engineering, construction, land administration and urban planning departments have become highly sought.

In addition, the shipping industry is expanding at an unprecedented rate, with each company bringing in new fleet every year and offering favorable salary packages. Newcomers in shipping companies are entitled to over NT$110,000 (US$3,500) in monthly pay and year-end bonuses equivalent to between 10 and 12 times their monthly salaries, Zang said.